Friday, March 6, 2009

Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce

My mom made us homemade spaghetti sauce for us when we were growing up -- I've never attempted canning it like her, but I have been looking for a good homemade spaghetti sauce. I've collected a few recipes over time, including my mom's, and combined them to make one I think will be our family favorite. I like it because it's so versatile... meat, no meat, over pasta, as a sauce for our other baked pasta dishes ... delicious.

Vegetarian Sauce:
Slice mushrooms and carrots, and dice pepper and onion to taste.

Pour into your crockpot the undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce and paste and stir to combine. We used minced onion, and added it along with the tomatoes.

Pour into the sauce all the chopped veggies and stir in to combine.

Add spices, including brown sugar and stir well.

Turn the crockpot to low and allow sauce to cook for 6-8 hours or until veggies are tender and flavors are well combined.

To make a meat sauce:
In a skillet, combine bell pepper, onion and garlic. Brown beef/turkey in a skillet until meat is no longer pink. Season while browning with salt, and pepper.

Add browned meat to the crock pot and combine with all other ingredients.

Serve over spaghetti, or use in any other red sauce-based dish.

This sauce will freeze well, so I made a full batch and froze the rest in meal-sized portions for easy use later. I also cooked the ground turkey seperately and combined it with a small portion of the sauce before serving. This way, we can use our sauce for more things, like chicken parmesan :) I froze the remaining already cooked turkey for an easy add-in to any dish later on.

Wondering if you have ever tried it with the 'salted' diced tomatoes-is it really to salty or just a personal preference? My husband usually salts things up anyways...Thanks for another great looking recipe to try. I have found so many great things from your site!

I got this recipe ready while my babies were still asleep this morning and it's still cooking, but it smells AMAZING! I just tasted it and it tastes great too. So easy! The only thing I did differently was I pureed up all the veggies because my husband loathes chucky healthy things in his spaghetti.

When cooking, please make sure to follow kitchen hygiene and safety -- cook meat until internal temperature is at safe levels, always check labels for allergens, and use caution in the kitchen -- I love sharing recipes, but I am not liable for damages done as a result of trying these recipes.